Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:55 am
There are no bars in Virginia.
Everyone you know in Blacksburg goes to a place which serves food, and has to serve 40% of their sales in food, so it actually needs to be edible and tasty. I've seen titty bars advertising a cheeseburger special. This isn't to say that some places, especially after 9pm or so, don't look just like a bar, but they're not, technically, a bar. This is state law.
All liquor sales are controlled by the state. So if you want to go to a liquor store, you go to a state-run store with fixed prices. The cost of liquor here is identical to liquor anywhere else in the state.
Although beer and wine are treated differently than they were in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma we have a low-point beer law; only 3.2% ABV or less can be sold cold off-premises, or anywhere outside a liquor store. Wine, "6-point" beer (all beer with ABV greater than 3.2%) and all liquor can only be sold in liquor stores, must be sold at room temperature, cannot be sold on Sundays or election days.
This is why you can't get Lone Star beer in Oklahoma. The company won't ship it warm, and we can't sell it cold. Budweiser, Coors, Miller, etc. all make a 3.2% version of their beer which can be sold cold. That's the only type you can buy after 9pm (when liquor stores close) or at grocery stores and gas stations.
Here in Virginia, though, you can buy wine and beer anywhere. Gas stations, grocery stores -- fucking Wal-mart here has an entire wine aisle. There's an entire store called Total Wine that sells nothing but wine and beer. You can get cold chardonnay at the 7-11. It's awesome!
But no bars. Just places that try really hard to look and feel like bars.
Yeah, there's other places, even in Texas (I grew up in a dry county, actually).